Dear Families,

Family Literacy A ctivities

As your child begins his/her school experience, we hope they will experience thejoy of words, develop a Jove of reading, and strengthen early literacy skills. Provided are alphabet letter cards, nursery rhymes and songs to read with/to your child, and a rhyming game. Please enjoy the activities and havefun with your child I

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Suggestions for using the letters (cut apart for these activities):

Letter flashcards - See how many letters your child can identify, then have him/her practice identifying letters as you flash the cards and have him/her name the letters.

ABC order -Sing the alphabet song with your child and as you sing,help your child put the letter cards in order to make an "alphabet train" of letters.

Show your child the difference between upper case and lower case letters and practice identifying each type.

Have your child place the letters of his/her first name in the correct order.

Play "ISpy a Letter": Line up 5 letter cards. Take turns describing a letter. For example, "Ispy a tall letter. Jt has one line that goes down and one line that goes across ." (L) The guesser must name the letter to take

the card. Replace the card that is taken with another letter, so that the "guessing pool" is kept constant.At the end of the game, have each player count his or her cards.

Go on a letter hunt - Your child chooses a letter card. He/she hunts through books, newspapers, magazines or other print materials to find that letter, and may even highlight, underline, or circle the letter when it is found.

"Magic Salt" tray - Fill a plastic container that is at least sandwich-size with about a half inch of salt poured in the bottom. Have your child choose a letter card, trace it with his/her finger,then have him/her "write" the letter in the salt. All letters should start at the top!

Suggestions for sharing the nursery rhymes, songs, and poems:

Read the rhymes, songs, and poems aloud using expression and modeling enjoyment of reading. Your child will hear the rhythm and patterns in the language and will be able to join in.

Explain that rhyming words sound the same at the end. Look/listen for words that rhyme on the pages and in your reading/singing.

Encourage your child to listen for the beginning (initial) sounds in words, and listen for words that have the same beginning sounds. Many of the rhymes, poems, and songs are rich with alliteration and can be fun to sing!

As your child develops awareness of beginning sounds, try changing the beginning sounds of some of the words to make new words (i.e.,instead of "Hey Diddle, Diddle" try "Hey Fiddle, Fiddle" or "Hey Piddle Piddle").

Have your child draw a picture that shows something that is written about in one of the rhymes. This will encourage him/her to think about word meanings and concepts they are familiar with.

Suggestions for reading the We Like School book with your child:

Have your child guess the kinds of activities children do at school. Then, have him/her take a "picture walk" through the book (turn each page and look at the picture and the words). Ask him/her if the children in the pictures are doing the same activities that he/she guessed.

Show your child the word "I" on the first page of the book. Have him/her look for that same letter/word on the rest of the pages.

Show your child how many words are on the first page, and have him/her count how many words are on all the other pages.

Read the book to/with your child, pointing to each word as you read. Ask your child if the pictures match what the words say on the pages.

Have your child "echo read" words on each page (you say the words,then your child says the words).

After reading,ask your child what he/she is most excited about doing when he/she gets to school.

My Book of

Nursery Rhymes, Songs,

and Poems

Name_ ___

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son, John,

went to bed

with his trousers on.

One shoe off and one shoe on

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son, John

Eeny , meeny, miny, moe Catch a tiger by the toe

Ifhe hollers let him go, Eeny, meeny, miny, moe

My mother told me

To pick the verybest one A nd you are it.

Five little ducks went out to play Over the hill and far away

The mother duck said Quack, Quack come back!

Four little ducks came running back Four little ducks went out to play Over the hill and far away

The mother duck said Quack, Quack come back!

Three little ducks came running back Three little ducks went out to play Over the hill and far away

The mother duck said Quack, Quack come back!

Two little ducks came running back Two little ducks went out to play Over the hill and far away

The mother duck said Quack, Quack come back!

One little duck came running back One little duck went out to play Over the hill and far away

The mother duck said Quack,Quack come back!

No little ducks came running back Sad mother duck went out one day Over the hill and far away

The daddy duck yelled QUACK, QUA CK COME BACK! Five little ducks came running back!

Hickory, dickory, dock,

The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down Hic kory, dickory, dock.

On top of spaghetti ,

A lIcovered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball When somebody sneezed.

It rolled of f the table A nd onto the floor,

And then my poor meatball Rolled right out the door!

It rolled in a garden And under a bush

Now my poor meatball

Was noth ing but mush

The mush was as tasty As tasty could be Early next summer

It grew into a tree

The tree was alI covered With beautif ul moss

It grew lovely meatballs In a tomato sauce

So if you like spaghetti A ll covered with cheese

Hold on to your meatballs

And DON ' T EVER SNEEZE! A-A-A-CHOO J!

Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily,

merrily, merr ily,

Lif e is but a dream.

Star Iight, starbright, First starsee tonight,

Iwishmay,wishmight, Have the wishwish tonight.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Touch the ground.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear,

Turn around.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Show your shoe.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, That will do.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Run upstairs.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Say your prayers.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Blow out the light.

Teddy bear, Teddy bear, Say good night.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How wonder what you are.

Hey, diddle, diddle, The cat and the f iddle,

The cow jumped over the moon.

The little dog laughed To see such sport,

And the dish ran away w ith the spoon.

It 's raining, it 's pouring; The old man is snoring.

Bumped his head

A nd he went to bed

A nd he couldn't get up in the morning.

Rain, rain, go away;

Come again another day; Little Johnny wants to play.

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went,

Mary went, Mary went,

and everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go.

It f ollowed her to school one day school one day, school one day,

It f ollowed her to school one day, which was against the rules. It made the chi ldren laugh and play,

laugh and play, laugh and play,

it made the children laugh and play to see a lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out, turned it out, turned it out,

And so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near, And waited patiently about,

patiently about, patiently about,

And waited patiently about till Mary did appear.

"Why does the lamb love Mary so?" Love Mary so? Love Mary so?

"Why does the lamb love Mary so,11 the eager children cry. "Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know ."

The lamb, you know, the lamb, you know,

"Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know ,11 the teacher did reply.

Eencey Weencey spider Climbed up the water spout; Down came the rain

A nd washed poor Eencey out; Out came the sun

A nd dried up all the rain;

A nd the Eencey Weencey spider Climbed up the spout again.

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